Elizabeth Andreas Evatt | |
|---|---|
| 1st Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia | |
| In office 5 January 1976 – 5 January 1988 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1933-11-11)11 November 1933 (age 92) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Relations |
|
| Parent | Clive EvattQC |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Reformist lawyer andjurist |
| Known for | First Chief Justice of theFamily Court of Australia |
Elizabeth Andreas Evatt (born 11 November 1933) is an eminentAustralianreformist lawyer andjurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the firstChief Justice of theFamily Court of Australia, thefirst female judge of anAustralian federal court, and the first Australian to be elected to theUnited Nations Human Rights Committee.
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Evatt was born in 1933, the daughter of thebarristerClive EvattQC, granddaughter ofHarry Andreas ofLeuralla, and the niece ofH. V. Evatt. Educated at thePresbyterian Ladies' College inPymble, Sydney, Evatt studied law at theUniversity of Sydney, as the youngest law student ever accepted, and became the first female student to win the University's Medal for Law, graduating in March 1955. Admitted as atbarrister inNew South Wales in 1955, Evatt won a scholarship toHarvard University where she was awarded aLLM in 1956 and was admitted to the bar at theInner Temple inLondon,United Kingdom. From 1968 to 1973, Evatt worked at theEngland and Wales Law Commission underLord Scarman.
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In December 1972, Evatt was appointed as the first female Deputy President of theCommonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and retained this position until 1989. Between 1974 and 1977, Evatt chaired the Royal Commission on Human Relationships, producing recommendations which ultimately led to the enactment of theFamily Law Act 1975 whereno-fault divorce and the single ground of irreconcilable differences evidenced by twelve months separation were introduced intoAustralian family law. The Act also established theFamily Court of Australia, and Evatt was appointed as its inaugural Chief Justice holding this position from 1976 until 1988.[1]
In 1988 Evatt was appointed President of theAustralian Law Reform Commission, a position she held until 1993. From 1995 to 1998, she served as a part-time Commissioner of the AustralianHuman Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.[1]
Appointed as a member of theUnited NationsCommittee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 1984, Evatt later chaired the committee, from 1989 to 1991, and remained a member until 1992. Evatt was the first Australian to be elected to theUnited Nations Human Rights Committee in 1992, serving as a member from 1993 to 2000.[1]
Between 1998 and 2007, Evatt served two consecutive, five-year terms as a judge of a tribunal of theWorld Bank that determines staffing disputes. Evatt was elected as a Commissioner of theInternational Committee of Jurists in April 2003.[2]
In 1988 Evatt was madeChancellor of theUniversity of Newcastle, holding this post until 1994.[citation needed]
In 1995 Evatt was commissioned bySenatorHerron, the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, to review the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. Her extensive report,Review of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 ('the Evatt Review') was presented in August 1996 and paved the way for legislative reform to a complex and controversial area of law.[citation needed]
Evatt has been an outspoken advocate of issues relating tohuman rights in Australia, particularly women's rights.[1] In a 2004 speech to mark the twentieth anniversary of theSex Discrimination Act 1984, Evatt critiqued the Act and other laws relating to women's rights in Australia, in terms of its inadequacies in satisfying Australia's obligations under theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.[3] She was also critical of the thenHowardLiberal government'santi-terrorism legislation, particularly provisions relating tocontrol orders andpreventive detention, saying that "These laws are striking at the most fundamental freedoms in our democracy in a most draconian way."[4]
Evatt was a signatory to theYogyakarta Principles in November 2006.
Evatt was made an Officer of theOrder of Australia on 14 June 1982, in recognition of services to the law, and was granted the status of Companion of the Order of Australia, at theQueen's Birthday honours on 12 June 1995.[1] The latter citation was awarded "in recognition of service to the law, social justice and to the promotion of human rights worldwide, particularly in the areas of equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation and practice".[5][6]
In 1985 anhonorary degree ofLL.D was conferred on Evatt by theUniversity of Sydney at a special ceremony which celebrated the centenary of the first graduations by women at the university.[7] In 1994, theFlinders University of South Australia conferred the same award on Evatt.[8]
In 2007 the Blue Mountains Community Legal Centre changed its name to the Elizabeth Evatt Community Legal Centre. The Centre provides free legal advice to clients in thesurrounding region, and Evatt serves as patron of the centre.[9]
Evatt is a Life Member of the Evatt Foundation, an organisation established as a memorial to her uncle, Dr H. V. Evatt, with the aim of advancing the highest ideals of the labour movement, such as equality, participation, social justice and human rights.[10] Evatt served as Vice-President of the Foundation between 1982 and 1987.[11]
She was added to theVictorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001.[12]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)| Legal offices | ||
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| New title | Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia 1976–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chancellor of theUniversity of Newcastle 1988–1994 | Succeeded by Ric Charlton |
